Pink and Silver
by Solitaryrose
Summary: After Utena's disappearance, so many linked events occur that it almost seems as if it were all planned... read to find out more! Act/chapter 4 is up!!
1. Act 1: The start of it all

Pink and Silver  
Act 1  
  
"Here you go," the blue-haired barmaid handed a gin and a rich margarita to the customer. Wiping her hands on her tight black miniskirt, she flashed the drunk man sitting at the counter she was serving a pretty but emotionless smile. The slumped man stared at her rosy red lips and her deep blue eyes. After surveying her slender body, he leaned closed to her and whispered, "What's your name?" Disgusted by the reek of alcohol that surrounded him, she wrinkled her nose and leaned back.   
  
"Kaoru Kozue," she answered while wiping a glass, "What's it to you?" The man smiled and gave her a yellow grin, "Found you, little chicken." Little chicken? What the hell kind of pet name was that?   
  
"What in the world are you talking about?" Kozue asked uneasily, clenching the beer glass tight in her hand in case she needed a weapon to knock this drunk out with. "What do you mean, 'found me'? I don't know you and you don't know me." As the man plunked down his glass of gin, he pulled Kozue close to him, and hissed, "You're having a visitor. Be prepared..." And then he tried to kiss Kozue. Enraged, the barmaid smacked the glass hard on his head. Seeing a second too late what Kozue was doing, the drunk, sluggish by now, tried to dodge. Unfortunately for him, but luckily for Kozue, it crashed down nice and solid on his muggy head. A trickle of blood started to flow out of a gash, and Kozue bit her lip. Damn, she thought, now I'm in for it. Better get going on the streets. Again.  
  
As she tried to slip out of the crowded bar, a silence fell over the customers, barmaids, and bartenders alike. Kozue whirled around from her thieving of the drunk's wallet (after all, if she was taking out on the streets, she DID need a few bucks) and what she saw changed her life.   
  
She dropped the leather wallet she was holding in her hand and ran towards the familiar visitor standing in the doorway. Just then, she was blocked by a girl her age. The girl, whose face was a mask of pure fury and something else, snapped, "Don't go near him, Kozue. Don't you dare."  
  
Surprised, Kozue dropped her jaw, and recognized one of her old rivals in the competition for a certain male. "Nanami?"  
  
*****  
  
After much ooing and aahing, Wakaba stood with Tetsuya and the two of them gazed at the oldest work of the former Ohtori Student Council member. Sighing, Wakaba leaned on Tetsuya and said, "Who would have imagined that the coldest member of the Student Council would paint a picture like this? Wow, it's so pretty..."   
  
Tetsuya agreed, "Yeah, Arisugawa-san was always a stoic figure. Imagine her painting an emotional work like this..."  
  
"Yeah..." Wakaba responded in turn. However, something about the painting sparked a memory in Wakaba's mind. She just couldn't place her finger on it. The face on it looked vaguely familiar. But the eyes... they were so full of nobility and showed so much eternity, yet still looked sad, as if the owner of them was trapped in the wheel of time...  
  
"Ugh, what a weird painting. And by Arisugawa-san, too!" A new voice came from the back of the room. "Do you know what that is, Saionji-sempai?" After hearing the last word, Wakaba widened her already large brown eyes and turned around quickly.  
  
She saw an attractive, petite figure staring up raptly at Saionji with capricious purple eyes. Wakaba wondered how, after all of Saionji's beatings, that poor, tiny little girl could still be living and breathing. The girl didn't look as if she could last a slap. But, a furious emotional chord of envy struck in Wakaba's heart. She may be engaged to her dear Onion Prince, but she still loved her darling (and at times brutal) Saionji. The last time she had seen him was three years ago, when she was eighteen, at her Ohtori graduation. Narrowing her eyes sharply, Wakaba stared after the girl. Tetsuya raised his eyebrows.   
  
"Yuriko, can't you see?" Saionji's familiar sharp, brisk tone sliced through the air. "The painting may look like a sloppy white rose, where it looks as if the outline is scrawled, but if you look carefully, you can see the face of a girl in these petals. Doesn't her face look noble? And so full of eternity and life?"  
  
"Yeah, but she's not smiling. How can you say that's full of life?" Yuriko interrupted impatiently. "Her eyes make her look like she's confined, or trapped. I don't think she looks full of eternal life; full of eternal sadness would be more like it. Some art collector you are! You can't even tell the expression on someone's face!" Wakaba took her breath in sharply. This girl was now in for it. She immediately whirled around and grabbed Tetsuya's coat sleeve. "Come on, let's go visit the next room." Dragging a confused Tetsuya along with her, she left Yuriko to her fate.  
  
But, Wakaba predicted wrong. Saionji clenched his fists tightly after hearing Yuriko speak, but he didn't slap her. He had just visited a clinic where people who had temper problems were treated. Suddenly, he remembered something. Perhaps the treatment he had just gone through wiped out his brain for a few seconds, too. After much fumbling through his olive green trench coat, he found what he was looking for: a business card that read the name "Shinohara Wakaba, physical therapist." Leaving Yuriko bewildered where she stood, he leaped after Wakaba's quickly retreating form. He just prayed that he would be able to catch her.  
  
*****  
  
Clinking down her glass of champagne, Arisugawa Juri looked over at Miki. He, too, was alone, as if waiting for someone. His shining thing, no doubt, she thought. She had given up hope on her love long ago. This desolation had been the unfolding bud for all of her now-famous paintings, all save the first one she ever did. Now she had completely forgotten about it. She could hardly even remember whom it was that she painted. All she knew was that she was gone. Her thoughts diverted to something else. Why had to she come to this stupid Board of Fine Arts Social, anyway? As far as she knew, it was worthless. Sure, she was beautiful, but would anyone make advances towards her? To them, she was too cold, too aloof, and too "creepy". She heard a loud noise behind her, and whirled around.  
  
" Arisugawa-san, you seem to be alone. Care to join me for a dance?" The master of the hall that this social was taking place offered his hand to Juri. He tried to saunter inconspicuously towards her, but to no avail. Juri clearly saw through his moves and coldly tilted her chin towards him.   
  
"Takada-san, I clearly do not wish to dance with you. I am comfortable where I am standing. Besides, you seem to have a horde of ladies trailing after you like second shadows. I strongly recommend you to choose one of them, so as to not break their poor little hearts." She replied to the man's request mirthlessly. "So do leave." No one else would have dared speak to Takada-sama this way, for fear of being sued or some other unfortunate event. Juri was different, she knew it, and let others know it. Like a panther, she was fierce, yet beautiful.  
  
"Oh, hello, Arisugawa-san. What a pleasant surprise to see you here as well." A mild voice chimed in Juri's thoughts. Knowing that she recognized the voice somewhere, but not knowing from where, she looked off to her left.   
  
Kanae? She thought with shock.  
  
If she was here, then where was her husband, the dastardly dean of Ohtori?  
  
"Why, hello, Kanae-san." She greeted the woman with the luminous pale yellow hair. Hmm, she has incredibly good fashion sense, she thought. She was wearing a long chartreuse ball gown that had a huge train that complimented her hair perfectly. It was unadorned, but light embroideries of roses a shade lighter than chartreuse bloomed down the bodice.   
  
"Arisugawa-san, the famed artist. I've been looking for you. When I received the invitation to attend the Social, I knew that it was the ideal occasion for a famous artist and a renowned fashion designer to meet." Kanae smiled brightly. Realization dawned upon Juri as to why Kanae was here: she was a fashion designer! Of course! No wonder she had such good fashion sense. You didn't see fashion designers prancing around wearing electric orange and olive green, did you?  
  
"Why were you looking for me?" Juri inquired cautiously. "What is there to tell me? As far as I know, the Prince is no longer here... there does not seem to be a World Revolution! We are all grown. The past is behind us now."   
  
Kanae shook her head quickly, closing her eyes in the process, as if Juri's words cut through her. "That is why I am looking for you. And the other members of the former Ohtori Student Council, as well." Confused, Juri narrowed her eyes. Did Kanae even know what she herself was talking about? Sighing in exasperation, she tried not to sound pushy. "What are you talking about? Are you saying that we must find Utena?"  
  
Looking amused now, Kanae beckoned Juri towards her into a dark corner. Smiling knowingly and with grim satisfaction, she pulled Juri closer and started to speak in hushed tones.  
  
Five minutes later, Juri had a serious, grim look on her face and was deep into conversation with Kanae.  
  
*****  
  
She looked around her apprehensively. Was there no one to turn to? Wincing in pain as blood dripped endlessly from countless cuts in her body, she tried to ask for help. Futile. Her throat was already so parched that all she could manage was a croak that sounded not much better than a frog's. Near to the point of sobbing, she cradled her stomach, which was the worst off. No, she thought, to be a Prince I must be strong.  
  
"Oh! All you all right, miss?" A sweet voice asked from behind the injured girl. "I should find help for you. Stay right here!" The girl turned around just in time to see an elfin nine-year-old child run off for help. Her senses becoming more aware now, she looked all around her to remember the place in case she happened to get lost. She was standing on a deserted cobbled path inlaid with rose-tinted and marble stones. Cottages and stores rose gracefully all around her. The sky was still the purplish-yellow-pink cast of dawn. It was odd to see someone out at this time. Luckily, this sweet little girl was still out. The wounded young woman had time to praise her good fortune and to bless the little girl before she passed out.  
  
When the little girl returned with a still sleepy but apprehensive adult, the young woman with the pink hair was already dead.  
  
~ End of Act 1~  
  
Solitary_rose: Hey, so what did you all think of this so far? As you know, the characters (except for the little girl and a few minor ones) in "Noble Roses, Bloody Roses" are NOT owned by me (so you can't put me in jail for attempting to copy original characters, ha!!!), but by Chiho Saitou and probably also Kunihiko Ikuhara. This fic is owned by me, though, and copyrighted, too!! (c) 2001 by Solitary_rose - I'd rather not give out my real name. A person's gotta have privacy, you know! Anyway, I hope that you guys like it. As I mentioned with my other fics, R/R/E! (you know, E=enjoy)   



	2. Act 2: Deeper and deeper...

Pink and Silver  
Act 2  
  
A maroon-haired young woman dragged a blond boy a couple of years younger than her out onto the street in the heavy rain. Making sure that nobody saw them, she shoved him into a dark alley corner.   
  
"Tell me where she is! You should know; you always hang around that girl you admire so much! She was once in the Student Council, so she MUST know! If you don't tell me, you know what'll happen...!" The maroon-haired monster snarled. She held out a small but incredibly sharp dagger in front of the poor kid's face for emphasis. Gulping, the boy tried to stand his ground. "I'm not gonna tell that to a rabid dog like you! Nanami-sama's secrets are for my ears alone! So, no matter what th-threats you give, I won't t-tell!!"   
  
Laughing almost maniacally, the woman in the ruffled white coat peered closely into the boy's face. "Mitsuru, you don't wish to die, do you?" She held the knife so close to Mitsuru's face that she actually managed to scrape it a bit. Wincing as his face bled, Mitsuru choked out, "What does a harlot like you want with Nanami-sama? You have nothing to do with her, and she has nothing to do with you!"  
  
Furious that Mitsuru had figured out her occupation, the woman started to throttle Mitsuru. "That's where you're wrong, Mitsuru! Yes, I have nothing to do with your precious Nanami, and she has nothing to do with me, but two things tie us! One of them is her brother! Another is a certain girl that disappeared almost nine or ten years ago, oh what's her name! So, cough up the information, you little brat!"  
  
The throttling did it. Nobody treated Mitsuru this way (except for dear Nanami-sama!) and got away with it. The fifteen-year old boy kicked the maroon-haired woman soundly on the shin. The pleasure of her screaming almost made him laugh out loud. Unfortunately, he didn't get time to, since he was too busy running like mad from the furious woman.   
  
As he finally reached his dorm in Ohtori, Mitsuru was giddy to realize that he had saved the secrets of Nanami-sama! He plopped down on his bed happily.  
  
Unknown to Mitsuru, the woman he had kicked limped down the alleyway to search for an alternate source of information in a bar. A bar where a woman named Kaoru Kozue worked.  
  
Once she got there, though, Kozue wasn't there. After much cussing and kicking slumped drunks, the woman stormed out into the sudden downpour. If she were lucky, a man would come her way. She needed the money.  
  
*****  
  
Coughing violently, the twenty-year-old brunette doubled over as she walked in the rain. It was raining so hard that it was impossible to see through it. And, if that wasn't enough, it was freezing cold for a spring day! Where was her apartment building? She hoped that she wouldn't get lost again. Then it would be her fifteenth time that month. The fits of amnesia that struck her brain constantly were terrifying. Right now, she only knew her first name: Keiko. Perhaps it was the time that Nanami-sama struck her on the skull because she spoke to Touga-sama that was the cause of all of this. Stumbling, Keiko managed to find a rail to lean on to. I would get myself treated, she thought, if I had the money.   
  
Suddenly aware of the two pairs of sinister eyes that peered at her from a dark alleyway, Keiko got up from the rail and kept on walking in the direction she knew as home. North, right? Or was it south? Guess I'll take north, then, she supposed. A young girl walking in the most dangerous, dirtiest, slummiest part of Tokyo was always prey to evildoers like those watching her at that moment.   
  
Aha! Home at last! Keiko squinted into the rain and gazed at the old, run-down concrete apartment building she knew as home. Running inside the lobby to her mailbox, she was anxious to see what mail she would receive. She turned a rusty key in a corroded keyhole. With a creak, the door swung open, and a bunch of letters dropped out.   
  
"Oh, no." Keiko bit her lip with sadness. Time for bills! Her job as a waitress gave her measly pay. She sighed and picked them up from the dirty imitation-marble floor. Suddenly, an elegant letter caught her eye. What was this? It was from a Kiryuu Touga. Touga-sama! Keiko's eyes lit up for the first time in a year. But, why did he want to see her? He thought of her as "lower class" in the last years that he attended Ohtori Academy. Brushing all that aside, she decided to accept. Ripping the letter open straight in the lobby, she scanned through it.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh-huh," She muttered as she read it. She was to meet him and a few others in his home, the letter read. Unfortunately, it was too far away for her to get there. She could take the train, she supposed, but to go the distance would be too expensive! After all, she had taxes to pay, and the bills... Then, she read the P.S. "Don't worry about paying for it. I've got it all covered." Whew! Immediately after, she wondered what he meant. He wasn't stalking her... was he?   
  
*****  
  
The middle-aged man looked out of a stained glass window calmly. A smile curled around his lips as he watched the woman down in the courtyard. Yes, he would, once again, conspire with her to get what they both wanted. That girl from the dark past... nobody else remembered her well, but he and his sister did. More like he and his partner in manipulation, actually. Suddenly, the dark-skinned woman with violet hair like his looked up at him. Smiling sweetly, she waved. The man watched her carefully as she walked up to the tower in which he was standing. Ah, she is the perfect partner, he thought smugly. She had the appearance of a sweet, innocent woman, but it wasn't that way on the inside. Until SHE came.   
  
Once bound entirely to his will, Himemiya Anthy clung on to every word he said, and followed it. After Tenjou Utena attended Ohtori, won the former Rose Bride's heart, and saved her from her horrible fate, however, it wasn't always that way. Sure, the man thought sadly, she still conspired with him, but manipulation just wasn't the same anymore.   
  
"Damn you, Tenjou!" The man pounded his fist onto the surface of the expensive mahogany desk to his left. "Because of you, Anthy no longer takes the pleasure in manipulating naïve people like you anymore! Because of you, this displeasure annoys me! Because of you, I CAN'T ENJOY MANIPULATING AND HURTING NAÏVE FOOLS ANYMORE!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMN YOU, TENJOU!!!" He snarled furiously, his voice raising with every sentence.   
  
"Brother dear, please don't shout."   
  
Seething, the man spun around. Seeing who was standing in the doorway, his face lost its tight mask of fury. He smirked. "Anthy dear, have you done your task?"  
  
Smiling happily now, Anthy nodded. "Yes. I told Kanae-san, Touga-san, and Miki-san the basics. I let their hearts and souls direct them into their own directions. No matter what steps they take, the outcome will come to our advantage." She took off her oldest red beret and placed it on the man's desk. "Akio dear, what have you been doing recently?"  
  
Laughing, Akio replied, "Oh, why don't you guess? I've been doing the usual."  
  
"I see. Seduction and sin, then, is it?"  
  
"Correct."  
  
"I, as well. However, I have only been seducing the ones you've ordered me to and the weak, ignorant, stupid fools. Not the naïve ones. I do hope that you've done the same."  
  
Akio looked at his sister angrily. He could seduce whomever he wanted to! Who was she to tell him who to seduce and who to not? Clenching his fists, he whirled on his sister and snapped, "I'll do what I want, and you do what you want, understood?"  
  
With a grim smile, Anthy said to Akio, "My, my, brother dear! What has happened to the calm, calculating dark prince I knew so smany years ago?"  
  
"You know perfectly well what has happened, Anthy!!! It was that- that PRINCE of yours, that Tenjou! Look what she's done to me, dammit!" Then, with a single motion, he swept all the contents off of his desk. Furiously he slammed his fist onto the table. Anthy stood there stiffly, watching every move with soulless eyes.  
  
"Brother dear, do calm yourself down." She bent down to retrieve the hat that had fallen to the floor. "Akio, she has done nothing to you. This worry, this anxiety, they are merely the side effects of what you have done to yourself." She paused for emphasis, as if waiting for Akio to reply back. When he just stood where he was, grinding his teeth furiously, Anthy turned around to go out the door. Before she closed the ornate ebony door to Akio's study, she bade him a final farewell. "Just think about what will happen, Akio. Think about what will come."  
  
At those last words, Akio turned around to face the closing door sharply. He tried to run after his sister, but by the time he caught her at the courtyard, she simply gave him a hollow smile and blended eerily into a bush of roses.   
  
Clutching his face with rage, Akio screamed a blood-curdling scream. "TENJOU, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Then, following his sister, he too blended after her into the roses.  
  
*****  
  
"Kozue, just remember one thing. Don't tell them why you are there. Just do it, all right?" Kiryuu Touga's voice echoed in Kozue's ear endlessly. Walking nervously in the dark alleys, she wondered why this errand was so important. After all, what was so important about keeping watch on a little pink-haired girl? Despite the resemblance to some past person that Kozue couldn't conjure out of the dark recesses of her mind, there really wasn't anything all that special about her, anyway.   
  
Or so she thought.  
  
That little girl wandered around the whole city, driving Kozue crazy. She didn't seem homeless, but nor did she appear to live in this area of Kobe. It was as if she was visiting. A space Martian, Kozue thought glumly. Kozue followed the girl for four hours, near to the state of collapse. She wondered how in the world the girl was able to skip vivaciously for four hours nonstop. Didn't she have something called "fatigue"?  
  
Suddenly, the little girl stopped in her tracks, and Kozue nearly bumped into her. Managing to keep her distance, she spied on her behind a phone booth.  
  
Two figures came into view and started walking straight towards the little girl. With a gasp, the pink-haired child stepped back and kept on backing up while the two of them advanced forward. The taller of the two people, a man with dark skin and purple hair, had a cunning, calculating look about him that warned people he was not one to mess with. The shorter of the two, a woman with the same complexion and a bindi on her forehead, had an emotionless expression on her face as she walked forward.  
  
Kozue remembered them.  
  
They were Ohtori Akio and Himemiya Anthy, brother and sister.  
  
Completely baffled by now, Kozue wondered why they would be interested in a little girl like the one she was following. As the girl turned around and Kozue saw her face, she knew why.  
  
On the girl's forehead was a metallic silver imprint, almost like a tattoo, of a rose signet. It was as tiny as a bindi, but so prominent that the viewer could tell that it was a rose. Also, it didn't look fake at all. It appeared to be something of a sign, a mark that gave its owner some special meaning. Without even knowing what she was doing, Kozue involuntarily stepped forward to catch the little girl.  
  
Akio and his younger sister spotted her immediately.   
  
"Kozue! What in the name of God are you doing here?" Akio asked, trying to mask his shock but nearly failing. Anthy had the same expression on her face, and better controlled.   
  
"I..." Kozue was at a loss of words. She remembered what Touga had said about not giving anything away, but she was not able to just stand there like a buffoon. Opening her mouth and then closing it, she fidgeted nervously while keeping a grip on the little girl's clammy arm. Guess she's as nervous as I am, she thought agitatedly.  
  
So, Kozue did the first thing that came to her mind. She ran, taking the stumbling girl after her. Sniffling and whimpering, the child gasped as she ran alongside the blue-haired young woman, "What's happening? What's going on?"   
  
"Shut up and come on! We don't have much time!" Kozue snapped sharply. Not knowing why she was taking the little girl with her, she dashed towards the nearest train station.   
  
As the train station came into view, Kozue risked a back glance. Akio and Anthy no longer were chasing her. They merely stood their ground, watching her. A cold shiver crept up Kozue's spine. Those two were dangerous, and had contacts with nearly everything physical and spiritual, she knew. Shaking such thoughts from her head, she bought two tickets with the money that Touga paid her for the task of watching the girl. Jeez, tickets are so pricey these days, a whiny voice complained in her head.  
  
After they had boarded the train, the little girl finally spoke. Fearful, she looked down at the ground from her seat and whispered, "Who are you and what do you want from me?" Tears came to her face and she wiped them away, frightened.   
  
"That's what I want to know, kid. Who are YOU?" Kozue felt guilty about scaring the poor child to death, and she too looked away.  
  
"I... I..." The child opened her quivering mouth. "I... am called Apocalypse. I don't know my real name. Everyone at home called me Apocalypse." Astonished, Kozue gasped, "Apocalypse? Where's 'home'?"  
  
"In another world. I passed through the glass coffin when I wanted to hide from death, and ended up here. I want to go home. I hate this place." Apocalypse started to cry, holding her head in her hands and racking with sobs. Looking out of the window and not knowing what she was doing, Kozue placed her hand on Apocalypse's pink head and stroked her hair. She almost even cried herself.   
  
According to the schedule, there were two more hours before she could reach Touga.  
  
*****  
  
Saionji and Wakaba stood together, face to face in the back courtyard of the art gallery. Neither of them spoke for a whole five minutes, looking at everything but each other. All of a sudden, Saionji grabbed Wakaba by the arms and whispered harshly, "What would you know about a pink-haired girl who attended Ohtori several years ago?"  
  
"Huh? I know she was with me, and we were close, but I can't seem to remember anything!" Wakaba winced from Saionji's tight grip on her thin arms. By the time he let go, they would be red and have finger imprints on them.  
  
"What do you want with me, anyway?!" She let out a nervous cry.  
  
"Because... you knew her the best. I remember everything. I need to know everything about Tenjou Utena. Everything."  
  
Tenjou... Utena... Wakaba remembered. Utena was her best friend, her comrade. Utena defended her when Saionji publicly embarrassed her with a love letter, and they shared a joke that Wakaba was her girlfriend... she remembered all at the sound of those words: Tenjou. Utena.  
  
"But how would you remember, Saionji-san? And why would you need to know?"  
  
"That doesn't matter! Just tell me everything! Here's my address; I think your fiancée is coming," Saionji held out an ornate business card to Wakaba hurriedly and immediately started to walk away, his hands stuck in his trench coat.  
  
"Wakaba! What are you doing here?" Bewildered, Tetsuya shook his head and looked into Wakaba's wide eyes.  
  
"Nothing. I thought Saionji wanted to say something to me, but I was wrong," Wakaba lied with the most innocent look she could manage plastered on her still-cute face.  
  
"Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
"Yes. Don't worry yourself, all right? Let's go home." Wakaba dragged a still suspicious Tetsuya towards the gallery exit.   
  
As the two of them sat in a train headed for home, Wakaba looked out at the cloudy sky and smiled secretly to herself. She could keep a secret from her darling.   
  
But it was a secret that would change the fate of the world.  
  
Author's note: Well, how'd it go? Sorry about all the cliffies...^_^ Well anyway, this is about the previous chapter: you know in the endnote, I called the story "Noble Roses, Bloody Roses"? That was a mistake, gomen nasai! The original was that, but I changed it. Anyway, I'll have the next act/chapter up soon, so don't worry (if you like it, that is). Later! And I also apologize for the length of this act/chapter... a bit long, heh! ^_^  



	3. Alliances

Pink and Silver  
Act 3  
  
In a dusty, sun-filled room that was empty save for a few heavily embellished mahogany chairs and a chess table, three people sat. Actually, it was more like three figures or beings, for they were all translucent.  
  
"Ruka, can you believe it? From the way things have been turning out, nothing is going according to plan," a young, purple-haired being exclaimed while using a wave of his fingers to move his bishop piece on the chessboard. The bishop immediately crossed six squares diagonally to capture a black knight.  
  
"Yes, that's true. That Akio and his sister were supposed to catch that girl, not let her away!" Ruka sat back in a chair, half of his body unseen in the dawn light but half visible in the shadows. "I really do pray that that man will be able to get her back to us. We need her." Turning, he spoke to the pink-haired form sitting across from the purple-haired being. "Mikage, what do you make of this?"  
  
"Damn it, another piece lost! Oh, yes, sorry, Ruka - Ahem, from what I think, Apocalypse is crucial to our plans, and Akio's. If she is lost, then so will have the future. Besides, she wasn't even supposed to have escaped, but we never expected Tenjou to die." Mikage gestured for one of his pawns to move over and capture the white bishop.  
  
"I wish Apocalypse hadn't seen death at her feet, right in front of her," the purple-haired existence sniffed sadly. "She would have been nice to know. But now that Akio and the former Rose Bride are after her, I'll never get to truly meet her."  
  
"Now, don't be sad, Mamiya... we'll make sure that nothing happens to Apocalypse except what we have planned for her..." Mikage gave a slight, secret smile as he and his two comrades shared confidential glances. A minute later, Mikage and Mamiya were concentrated on a heated game of chess while Ruka awaited a very, very important visitor.  
  
An extremely important visitor, to him, a little girl with pink hair and a silver mark on her forehead, and a man by the name of Ohtori Akio.  
  
*****  
  
With a groan, the maroon-haired woman shoved the body off of her. He was out cold. Furiously she snarled a string of colorful curses and gave him a few hard kicks in various parts.   
  
"How dare you try to have sex without paying first, you bastard?" She growled to the limp form. "Just who do you think you are? You have to pay me first!" Then, realizing that he was not able to hear one heard she uttered, she left him alone in the small inn. She was extremely angry about what had just happened. It wasn't what he did in particular; it was more the fact that he refused to pay, when she needed money the most. The need to buy tickets for a train tugged her mind and nearly drove her insane. However, she was near to the brink and very edge of craziness anyway.  
  
Finally, she made up her mind. She was going to go to the train station, find a person who wanted some pleasure, and sell herself for a train ticket to Nagoya.   
  
*****  
  
Ding-dong.  
  
Ding-dong.  
  
"Arrggh, what the hell do you want already?!" Kiryuu Touga grumbled as he pushed himself awkwardly out of his seat and crossed over to the front parlor. Just when I'm in the middle of writing an extremely important letter, some idiot has to bother me, he thought, displeased. With an angry jerk he yanked over the heavy entrance door. And... his jaw dropped.  
  
"Shiori?" An astonished gasp came from his mouth.   
  
The maroon-haired woman in a rumpled white coat standing in his doorway just smiled seductively and waited to be ushered in. However, Touga had no intentions of doing so, for he just stared at her and asked a question: "What in the world are you doing here at this time?"  
  
"I needed to see someone. I've heard that Kozue's at your home currently, and it's crucial that I see her," she responded, stepping a foot inside Touga's home. Touga slowly moved aside to admit her. Suddenly, Shiori flung herself at Touga with a big smack on his face and a neck-breaking squeeze. Choking with surprise, Touga pulled her off of him as she whined with rue.   
  
"Please, Shiori, I'm not in the mood for this," he sighed, narrowing his eyes and pulling parlor chairs out both of them. "So tell me, how did you know where I live?"  
  
"My... sources." Shiori sat down and smiled darkly to herself. "By the way, did I tell you that I sold myself for a train ticket to your home?" A bright smile plastered on her face, she turned to him, saying, "I was hoping to find fun at your house, since I haven't had it for a long, long time. There are never decent men these days."  
  
"Oh, don't even set your MIND on it, Shiori!" Touga scowled and nearly knocked over his chair.   
  
"YOU? Not wanting to..."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"All right, all right. But I need a place to stay. I'm out of bucks."  
  
"Yes, you can stay in a guest room. Far away from mine, that is."  
  
"You've changed so much, Touga! This is unbelievable."  
  
"Be quiet, Shiori, I'm not in the mood for talk right now. Go eat something in the kitchen or wander in the city. I'm busy right now." His tone meant finality.   
  
Grumpy, Shiori uttered a few indistinguishable words and stormed out of the house. They sounded a bit like, "no fun people these days". A slam from the door nearly shook the first floor to rubble.  
  
"Shiori, you don't know how much I'm putting myself at risk here; if Nanami were to randomly come home one day and discover that I've been keeping you AND Kozue at home, she'd go into a rage and burn the house down..." Touga muttered angrily as he took a seat at his desk again. "But I do need you both for personal reasons..." His voice trailed off as he looked out into space. "Utena, I'll find you..."  
  
*****  
  
Kanae Ohtori stood on the balcony, facing the afternoon sky. Light-hearted with secret knowledge, she hummed an eerie melody from memory. She couldn't remember where it came from, but knew that it meant something to her, her past, and her future. Soon she stopped though. There was someone behind her.  
  
"Why, hello, Juri!" Kanae greeted the cold, stoic woman behind her with a cheerful voice.  
  
"Kanae, I did not ally myself with you to hear your happy salutations," Juri answered in reply flatly. "So let's get our tasks over with quickly. Nothing can be put off."  
  
"Yes, don't worry," Kanae said soothingly, as if it did not matter at all to her. "By the way, have you seen Miki around?"  
  
"Well, he received my letter, I know, since he replied just yesterday, but he hasn't been around for a while." A lie twisted itself out of Juri's beautiful mouth. She just couldn't tell Kanae the truth. Kanae would ask questions, and it would soon be all a tangled mess. For all the blond-haired petite woman knew, Juri was just another pawn in her silly little plot. But in fact, Juri had her own reasons of alliance...  
  
"Oh... that's too bad then." With a downcast look on her face, Kanae turned out towards the sky again. "Doing something with others is always nicer than by yourself."  
  
"I'm with you."  
  
"Yes, I know. But Miki is such a nice boy, and so intellectual, too!"  
  
Juri seethed. Was Kanae saying that she had no intellect? Hissing, the former Student Council duelist snapped, "Do not call me stupid."  
  
"What? I wasn't doing that!" The look on Kanae's face was so bewildered and so shocked that it truly looked genuine. Juri promised to herself that she would someday paint a picture of that expression and title it: "Innocence".  
  
"Fine then. Shall we be going now?" Briskly turning on her heel, ready to leave for the train station, Juri turned her head back to Kanae for a few last words.  
  
"Sure," Kanae turned around and walked over.  
  
As the pair sat in their leather seats of one of the fastest trains in Japan (need I mention expensive, too?), Kanae told Juri her reason for visiting Ohtori Academy. It seemed that Akio had sent his wife a letter giving her a task to do. And, it turned out that the task was to pick up a very important package in a hidden dusty room. She was told not to be frightened of the three beings in there; they were good friends and perfectly safe. Kanae confessed to Juri that she had not wished to visit a bunch of freaky ghosts, but did the task only to please her husband. Akio hadn't been very kind to her lately, and she had feared it was something she did.   
  
"So, you're doing it to repent?" Juri inquired.  
  
"Yes..." Kanae was on the verge of crying, and had gotten out her frilled hanky from a handbag. "But Juri-san, may I ask a question?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Why did you wish to know?"  
  
"Out of curiosity." So Kanae wasn't as dumb as she had thought she was.  
  
"And another, if I may?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"What is your reason, Juri-san? What is your reason for coming along? Surely you must have your own motive as well."  
  
Without a sound, Juri turned her head towards the window and whispered, so softly that Kanae almost missed the words, "Something personal that needs to be settled. Nothing you would understand or concern you at all."  
  
Unfulfilled with that answer, Kanae merely looked down at her lap.  
  
The rest of the train ride was silent.  
  
  
Author's note: Oh, what do you think of my story so far? It's multi-layered, with lots of crazy twists and stuff, but I suppose I like it that way... I hope you readers do too! (Yes, if you hadn't guessed already, one of the mysteries in here is between Touga and Utena... ^_^) If you have time to, review! I enjoy receiving reader feedback.  
  
By the way, none of the characters in here belong to me, except for Apocalypse and some really, really minor nameless folks.   



	4. Act 4: Pink, Silver, and Screams

Pink and Silver  
Act 4  
  
"Come on, Apocalypse, we'll get there," Kozue said through huffs and puffs. The rain was beating down on her and the little girl she was with mercilessly. A sniff came from the little pink-haired girl. Kozue started to feel pangs of annoyance. All Apocalypse had done for the past few hours was sniffle and whimper. The blue-haired young woman's hands were itching for a slap.  
  
"K-Kozue, I'm cold and tired," Apocalypse whispered while uttering a racking cough. "I don't feel so well."  
  
"Apocalypse, be quiet and let me find the way! We'll get to Touga's house really soon; just wait!" Kozue replied absentmindedly, not realizing that her voice had an extremely angry tone. "Shush!"  
  
"O-Okay."  
  
After much searching, interrogating, and getting lost in dead ends, the pair of them finally reached a large manor. Even through the dark heavy rain, it was extremely beautiful and exquisite. Kozue walked right up to it as if she owned it, and turned a brass key in the lock of the front gate. Then, dragging a whining Apocalypse along, she opened the entrance with a gold key. As soon as she stepped in, she was pulled inside.  
  
"Kozue, did you invite them?" Touga's voice was urgent and hushed. It was even angry, as if Kozue had a part in it.  
  
"What? Who?"  
  
"Akio and Anthy."  
  
"T-they... no, it can't be!" Her face gone pale, Kozue panicked. They had found her. She was trapped. Shrieking and flailing to get out of Touga's grasp, she yelled, "No! They won't get her!!" And, to Touga's surprise, she grabbed Apocalypse's arm and ran out the door. As soon as she ran out onto the main street, Touga sighed with mingled skepticism and amazement, "She actually cares about someone besides Miki."  
  
However, before Kozue could get far, she bumped into someone.  
  
"Ouch! Watch it!" Kozue snapped, trying to wipe mud from the street off her skirt and attempting to cease Apocalypse's crying at the same time. Oddly she was acting like a mother to the little girl.  
  
"Why don't you watch it?" The person she bumped into retorted. It turned out to be a girl Kozue's age, a brunette girl with thick girlish pigtails and two slicked curls of hair on her forehead.  
  
"Do I know you?" Narrowing her eyes, Kozue inquired.  
  
"I don't know. I certainly don't know you."  
  
"Well, what're you called?"  
  
"Keiko."  
  
"Keiko? From Ohtori?" She was speechless. What a coincidence.  
  
"I don't know. Stop asking questions!! I don't know anything anymore!"  
  
"What the hell?" Kozue didn't care if little Apocalypse heard her speak harshly.   
  
"I'm unwell. Get away from me!!!!" Getting up from her fallen position, Keiko ran off for Touga's manor. "Stay away!!!" However, she did not get to it before she had a coughing fit and fell down on her knees, wheezing.  
  
"Hey, in your condition, you shouldn't be running." As Kozue advanced closer, with Apocalypse clinging, frightened, on her arm, she noticed that Keiko was all white skin and bones. Kozue reached out to help Keiko up, when the skinny brunette girl slapped it away vehemently. She screamed out hoarsely, "No! What are you doing? Don't try to hurt me! Stay away!!" Immediately Kozue did as she was told, with a scowl mussing up her face.   
  
"What's your problem?"  
  
"Y-you'll hurt me," Keiko answered before another line of coughs caused her frail body to shake uncontrollably. "You'll hit my head, like Nanami-sama."  
  
"Well, you know what? I'm not Nanami, and I have no damn reason to hit you, okay? So stop being paranoid and cooperate!" Kozue was at the end of her patience. She could not stand Keiko's fearful attitude anymore. It was irrational and stupid.  
  
"I-I..."  
  
"Okay? Look, why don't we get you over to Touga's house?" Even though she knew that she was taking a risk going there, Kozue decided to help the unfortunate soul out. She had been like that herself a year ago, before her brother pitied her and took her in. But she, stupidly, had gone off wandering again, and eventually got lost in a completely different city after taking a wrong train. So, she spent most of her time in a bar before getting fired.  
  
"That's exactly where I'm headed."  
  
"Oh well then! It's up the hill? Do you think you can make it?"  
  
"I dunno."  
  
"Well, try!" With a clap on the girl's back, Kozue sent her sprawling and sprinting towards the Touga residence. Once she saw Keiko being admitted inside, she removed Apocalypse's tight grip on her arm and placed the girl's hand in her own. Promptly she made her way towards the train station again.  
  
"Where are we going? What about Sir Touga's house?"  
  
"It isn't safe there. What we need is my brother. Try to find a phone book. I think I still have some money to make a call."  
  
*****  
  
"La-la-la-lee-lee-li-li-lo-lo-loo!" A blonde young lady chortled as she ran from room to room, checking on all the guests. "A brilliant day to be outside, peoples! Out, out, out!!!" With a holler she ushered them all out into hallway while smiling brilliantly at the cloudy, dreary spring day from the ceiling-height French glass window. "Look at that sun! Whoo-hoo!" Behind her back, an old coot muttered, "Looks like somebody had an overdose of coffee." Hearing those words, the blonde swirled around and narrowed her eyes, snapping, "Who said that?" When nobody answered, she just issued a dissatisfied grunt and continued dragging half-asleep people out for breakfast.   
  
"Lookee here, MAID, you've got no right dragging us poor folks out like that! Why don't you do your cleaning when we feel like getting out?" The old codger who had complained earlier piped up with his hoarse voice yet again. This time the blonde saw who it was and rounded on him, screeching, "What'd you call me, BOY?! I am NOT a maid, you hear?!! How DARE you call me that? FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I am the great manager of this hotel!!! I am KIRYUU NANAMI-SAN!!! You hear me?! I'm Kiryuu Nanami!! The manager of this five-star hotel! That's me!!!" Howling now, Nanami's hair was basically flying around her head as she continued hollering. "So don't ever call me a maid again, BOY!!!"  
  
"S-Sorry, Kiryuu-san," the old man shrunk backwards, stumbling. All of a sudden, Nanami smiled sweetly and went on her way as if the loud exchange had never ever taken place. As she continued down the stairs, humming an odd tune that was a mixture of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "I'm a Little Teapot, Short and Stout" (that's right, an overdose of coffee! She thought to herself) when she fell head over heels over something. After she pushed herself back up from her odd mangled position on the ground, she realized with a start that she had tripped over a package carelessly dropped in the middle of the stairs.  
  
"Oh?" She asked herself suspiciously as she crawled over to inspect it. Coming closer now, she could see that it was a tidy little crisp white box addressed to a "Ruka Tsuchiya, Room 264, Nagano Plaza". Suddenly, Nanami grabbed the box and walked briskly into her private hotel office with it behind her back. Once she locked the glossy glass sliding door and pulled the golden satin curtains across, she threw herself into her leather swivel chair.   
  
"This is impossible... Ruka's been dead for a couple of years now... he died under mysterious circumstances..." Puzzled, Nanami flipped the box this way and that, trying to figure out what was inside. There was no opening nor closing; just a rectangular prism made of cardboard, or so it seemed. Angry, and tossing aside the tiny angelic voice that was condemning her of being nosy, Nanami grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed at it. It was to no avail though, for not even a dent was created. Six failed attempts with six different sharp objects later, the eye-catching blonde gave a very-un-hotel-manager-like frustrated scream and threw the package at a group pastel portrait of the Ohtori Student Council.   
  
"WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "AARGH!!!"  
  
Completely furious, she banged her diminutive fists on her costly glass-paneled desk with such force that it slightly cracked. Then she kicked at her file cabinet, bruising her toes. Her tantrum continued for exactly six and a half whole minutes while anxious employees listened outside, quivering. Their boss could be terribly frightening.  
  
Unknown to Nanami as she raved and cursed, in room 264 sat a half-translucent blue-haired man, wondering where his package was. Finally realizing that it was in the hands of a person who was not supposed to have it, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow.  
  
A few seconds later, a white cardboard box disappeared from Nanami's office and reappeared in his hands. Smiling smugly to nobody in particular, he laughed, "Being dead does come in handy sometimes," and opened the box with a slice of his fingernail on the top-right crease.   
  
Once he dumped the contents of the box out onto the pale linen sheets of the canopy bed in his guest room, the expression on his face showed that he was pleased. All of a sudden, he gave a gasp of shock and dropped the object he was holding. Quickly he went out the door among a group of chattering people. His translucent body was seen by no one. As he made his way out of the front door, not even pausing to notice the throng of stricken employees pressing their ears against a glass door, there was something else going on in his room.   
  
A sharp shriek pierced the air.  
  
But nobody heard.  
  
That was because it was coming from the object that the blue-haired man had dropped.  
  
It was coming from a miniature, hand-held glass mirror with an elaborate frame of melded pink and silver with rose motifs twining all around it.  
  
The scream got worse.  
  
But still nobody heard.  
  
*****  
  
Sobbing, the ghost of the fourteen-year old girl screamed again. Tears of silver flowed smoothly down her cheeks as she convulsed and twitched. Covered in ghostly blood, the beautifully elegant pink-haired girl gasped and choked. She didn't even know how it happened; all she knew was she had somehow found herself traveling out of her human body, which was also blood-spattered. Then, the little girl standing in horror in front of her had seen the spectacle, yet the adult with her did not. Staring with wide eyes and mouth opened in revulsion at the scene of a semi-transparent girl crawling out of her own body, the child screamed and ran away. Following that, the ghostly young lady had wandered around, pondering over why she was not in Heaven or Hell. Eventually she figured out that she was not in her own world, and she was stuck in a bizarre world of pink. As soon as she met the silver-haired, crimson-eyed girl which appeared to be exactly her age and size, problems started.  
  
The red and silver girl with hair exactly in style to the pink-haired female's had then placed a cold, wintry hand on the bloody lady's throat and started to strangle her. At the same time she was strangling herself, too, with a wicked, smug grin.  
  
Finally the pain had filled so much of the pink-haired girl's head that she did not even notice the other one starting to melt, like a silver liquid or gas, into her. All of a sudden, the pink-haired female noticed, stunned, that her skin was becoming glacial and streaks of silver had appeared in her once-pure pink mane.  
  
Gasping with realization, she sobbed.  
  
What is Anthy going to say? She thought miserably. Simultaneously, other thoughts crept into her mind: Revolution... Apocalypse... Blood... End... Kill...  
  
"NOOO! This is not me!!! Anthy, Touga, Miki!!! Nanami, Saionji! Wakaba!!!!" She moaned, more silver tears flooding her face. "Noooooo....."  
  
She was cut off short by an internal squeezing of her windpipe. A voice hissed evilly, "Darling Utena, Dear Utena... don't cry. Anthy will be right there... in the swords, right next to you..." It paused momentarily for emphasis. "Yes, that's right... because..."  
  
"You'll be in the thorns."  



End file.
